Development and Characterization of Multi-Nutrient Formulations for Organic Farming

Abstract

The study was to develop multi-nutrient formulations for organic farming containing all the essential macro and micronutrients. The experimental design selected was completely randomized design with 8 treatments and 3 replications. The experiment was conducted in the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Kerala between Jan 2021-May 2021. Multi-nutrient formulations were developed using various organic nutrient sources like blood meal, soybean meal, rock phosphate, steamed bone meal, potassium sulfate, langbeinite, epsom salt, and borax permitted by National Programme for Organic Production. Formulations were prepared by mixing nutrient sources considering the nutrient requirement of nendran banana (N:P2O5:K2O @ 300:115:450 g plant-1) and the soil fertility status. The formulations were characterized for their physical, chemical and biochemical properties. On the basis of character analysis and principal component analysis the formulation F1 containing blood meal, rock phosphate, potassium sulfate, epsom salt and borax was found superior to other formulations. This was followed by F3 which contains blood meal, steamed bone meal, potassium sulfate, epsom salt and borax. Formulation F1 had 3.73 g cm-3 bulk density, 2.67% moisture content, 6.5 pH, 3.23 dSm-1 EC, 29.43% OC, 7.21% N, 2.71% P, 10.78% K, 5.98% Ca, 0.35% Mg, 4.45% S, 1174.11 mg kg-1 Fe, 4.53 mg kg-1 Mn, 13.55 mg kg-1 Zn, 8.65 mg kg-1 Cu and 93.67 mg kg-1 B. It also contained 45.04% crude protein, 2.95% humic acid and 3.55% fulvic acid. The formulation F3 had 7.47 pH, 3.37 dSm-1 EC, 28.34% OC, 7.11% N, 2.68% P, 10.68% K, 2.05% Ca, 0.32% Mg, 4.37% S, 1163.41 mg kg-1 Fe, 4.87 mg kg-1 Mn, 14.52 mg kg-1 Zn, 9.05 mg kg-1 Cu and 96.33 mg kg-1 B. Hence multi-nutrient formulation F1 based on its nutrient supplying capacity can be recommended as a nutrient source for organic farming.